ACNE


Acne vulgaris is the medical term used for common acne. It is commonly described as a skin disease caused by changes in the pilosebaceous units (skin structures consisting of a hair follicle and its associated sebaceous gland). Acne is most common during adolescence, affecting more than 85% of teenagers, and frequently continues into adulthood. Nearly 85% of people develop acne some time between the ages of 12 and 25 years old. While acne can arise at any age, it usually begins at puberty and worsens during adolescence. Acne lesions are commonly referred to as pimples, spots, or zits.

Understanding the cause of acne
The sebaceous glands which lie just beneath the skin produce sebum. Sebum is an oily secretion and does the work of moisturizing the skin & preserve the flexibility of the hair. These glands and the hair follicles within which they are found are called sebaceous follicles. These follicles are believed to get clogged due to hyperkeratinization and excessive shedding of the lining cells and the sebum that needed to be drained out continues to remain in the follicle duct and ends up forming what is called as an acne.

Causes of Acne include


Increased hormonal activity, such as menstrual cycles and puberty.(During puberty, an increase in male sex hormones called androgens cause the glands to get larger and make more sebum.)

Family/Genetic history. It has been seen that individuals whose parents had acne have an increased tendency to develop acne.

In females premenstrual exacerbation of acne is noticed which points to its hormonal association- androgens which if in excess can also lead to PCOS and infertility in females.

Vitamin deficiency, stress and dietary factors are upto some extent considered as an additional causative factor. But yet we do not fully understand why this process takes place and why in only one sebaceous gland versus another.

Types of Acne
Acne can manifest itself in two forms:
1. Non Inflammatory form
Normal Hair Follicle

The trapped sebum and bacteria stay below the skin surface to form what is called a whitehead. They show up as tiny white spots, or they may be invisible to the naked eye.

Blocked follicle

When the skin pore opens up and sebum is exposed it turns brown/black due to oxidation of melanin in the sebum.

2. Inflammatory form
Rupture of the wall of the hair follicle is usually the cause for inflammatory acne, hence it is advised to keep the acne untouched. What might be seen is an elevation with redness and might be tender to touch, this is termed as a papule. This progresses towards a pustule which appears whitish due to the presence of white blood cells and pus cells. Infection might result when a plugged follicle is invaded by Propionibacterium acnes, a bacteria that normally lives on the skin.( It is not very often the cause. )

Further there are other forms of acne such as "Acne Rosacea What is seen in rosacea is erythema and it does not show pustular manifestation but continues to appear red and papular. As opposed to acne vulgaris, most patients do not "outgrow" rosacea. It characteristically involves the central region of the face, causing persistent redness or transient flushing over the areas of the face and nose that normally blush -- mainly the forehead, the chin and the lower half of the nose. It is commonly seen in people with fair or light skin.

DO'S & DONT'S
Don't ever scratch your skin. In order to remove acne people scratch the acne/skin , however Skin irritation or scratching of any sort will activate the inflammation process and possibly infect the site with bacteria. What would be preferred is a gentle stretching of the skin to ease out the contents.

Keep your hands off your face.

People usually tend to wash their faces frequently believing that it would wash away the dirt but that doesn't usually help rather there is a possibility of irritating the skin by frequent washing and washcloth application.

Use of anabolic steroids and certain medications might also lead to acne and therefore consulting your doctor for the same is very important.

It is recommended that an individual having acne should not go for facials too often.

Treatment options available around
Primarily what is aimed in modern medicine is to clear the follicular duct, reduce the sebum overproduction, and suppress the ongoing inflammatory changes but this does not usually help as the pathophysiology is not yet completely understood. The treatment in modern medicine for acne rosacea is rather suppressive than curative.

Our treatments
Homoeopathy considers the individual as a whole and shows wonderful results in Skin disorders especially acne. Without the use of any harmful chemicals causing side-effects our treatments are based on the ever evolving homoeopathic medical science where we stand for our results and services.

One should definitely try Homoeopathy before being disappointed and assuming that they will have to suffer from acne without respite.